#22769
Peer review is an exercise in which students review each other's written work. Peer review is often connected to revision, a part of the writing process in which writers refine and make substantive changes to their written work.
University of Minnesota (2004). Articles>Education>Editing>Writing
#22768
Revision refers to the process of reviewing one's work and making changes (either local or global) to improve the writing. Most teachers of writing encourage students to revise their work by creating drafts and going through a process of review -- either by having teacher review drafts or having other students review drafts.
University of Minnesota (2004). Articles>Education>Editing>Writing
#21573
Indexing: A Step-By-Step Workshop 
This workshop presents a step-by-step methodology for producing thorough, usable indexes for technical documents. The methodology consists of these four steps: 1) Creating entries based on the material; 2) Creating entries based on users' questions; 3) Adding synonyms; and 4) Cross-referencing related entries. The workshop also includes hands-on exercises which illustrate the methodology and give participants a chance to practice using it.
Hash, Christine Milligan. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Indexing>Technical Writing
#14286
The Influence of Gender on Collaborative Projects in an Engineering Classroom 
Using a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis, this article discusses some of the findings from a larger study on collaboration and the role of gender. Here, we profile three student engineering teams as they participate in processes leading to the submission of a report for a team-based technical communication course. While some theorists suggest that gender can play a significant role in achieving a successful team dynamic, our study only partially supports that claim. A synopsis of two women from two predominantly male teams reveals glimpses of what the literature describes as traditional gender-linked behaviors by both men and women, but the all-female team does not conform to stereotypical patterns and their behaviors call into question the existence of these interactional styles. We suggest that factors other than gender and independent of a team’s gender composition—such as team commitment and a strong work ethic—exert a greater impact on collaboration. Nevertheless, the study does caution against assigning women to predominantly male teams since, when a team’s social structure is mostly male, traditional gender-linked interactional behaviors as well as manifestations of the culture of engineering are more likely to emerge. Overall, the study underlines the importance of examining specific face-to-face interactions to see how behavior is situationally produced in order to more fully understand the interactional strategies open to individuals.
Ingram, Sandra and Anne Parker. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (2002). Articles>Collaboration>Writing
#23388
The Influence of Language and Culture on Written Communication 
Language reflects the special characteristics of each culture; its conventions, history, tradition, race, religion, and political stand. These cultural conventions do not only concern language, but also the way we view and perceive the world. That is why it is important for technical communicators to learn the conventions of a particular culture, and particularly its language, if they are to write the most suitable documentation for the target group.
Nordlund, Juha. TC-FORUM (2000). Articles>Language>Writing
#30725
This study investigates the influence of students' perceptions of task similarity/ difference on the transfer of writing skills. A total of 42 students from a freshman ESL writing course completed an out-of-class writing task. For half of the students, the subject matter of the writing task was designed to be similar to the writing course; for the other half, it was designed to be different. All students were also interviewed about the writing task. Reports of learning transfer were identified in the interview transcripts, and students' performances on the task and on a recent assignment from the course were assessed. Results indicate that the intended task similarity/difference (i.e., in subject matter) did not have the expected impact on learning transfer; however, students' perceptions of task similarity/difference did influence learning transfer. Implications of these findings for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.
James, Mark Andrew. Written Communication (2008). Articles>Education>Writing>Language
#27114
Infoneering: Beauty and the Beast
As someone who has been working as a writer in the high-technology field for better than a dozen years now, I have been watching with interest and enthusiasm the slow convergence of the disciplines of writing, interface design, and engineering. In the design of integrated help systems particularly, the traditional boundaries for developing content, interfaces, and features have blurred—resulting in a collaborative enterprise that I refer to as infoneering.
Sesnovich, Bruce A. Boston Broadside (2001). Articles>Writing>Technology
#14014
Informação: Computação e Comunicação
A 'Sociedade da Informação' que se configura neste fim de século decorre de uma revolução tecnológica cujas origens remontam ao final da Segunda Grande Guerra, e cujo complexo desenvolvimento transcorre durante toda a segunda metade do século, com potencial para modificar, a médio prazo, muitos aspectos da vida cotidiana. Segundo a National Science Foundation, a tecnologia eletrônica da informação alterará cada instituição da vida americana, com ``efeito transformador'', até 1998. Embora muitos elementos tenham contribuído para essa transformação, dois pontos focais aparecem como determinantes do seu crescimento: Computação e Comunicação, diretamente ligados a dois objetos tecnológicos que proporcionaram a esse crescimento uma velocidade nunca vista: Micro-computador e Rede Internet. O uso da rede aumenta dramaticamente o grau de cooperação entre parceiros, muitas vezes geograficamente distantes, e impõe novos paradigmas, novas possibilidades e novos problemas para muitas atividades.
Mandel, Arnaldo, Imre Simon and Jorge L. deLyra. Universidade de Sao Paulo (1997). (Portuguese) Articles>Writing>Computers and Writing
#26063
Information Architecture Concepts for the Technical Writer
Information Architecture (IA) as a discipline practiced by professionals in the information processing and development industry has many definitions and levels of understanding.
Gummaraju, Anupama. Indus (2005). Articles>Information Design>Writing>Technical Writing
#19662
Instant Messaging--Another Format to Worry About?
IM lived for years as an obscure technology in the shadow of the WAP (wireless application protocol) wireless Web, and is still used chiefly by teenagers. But IM has recently become a source of revenue for financially beleaguered telecoms, and has been discussed as a possible replacement for e-mail.
Perlin, Neil E. Intercom (2003). Articles>Writing>Online>Instant Messaging
#29656
Instructions for Giving Instructions: Creating Effective Documentation
Increasingly technical communicators are being asked not only to write documentation and instructions, but to also teach subject matter experts how to write their own process explanations. While writing good documentation is an art, there are also formulas and templates that help guide effective process explanation. Whether instructions appear in written, verbal or digital formats, they should all observe basic conventions for graphics, layout, content organization, overviews, development of ideas, ample warnings and cautions, trouble shooting and tool lists.
Stern, Caroline M. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
#19629
Instructions: Write for Busy, Grouchy People
People hate reading instructions, and will only glance at them when they are hopelessly lost. By then, they will already be frusrated and behind schedule. Organize your instructions carefully, phrase them clearly, and make them as brief as you possibly can.
Jerz, Dennis G. Seton Hill University (2000). Articles>Documentation>Writing
#23314
An Instructor Internship In Technical Writing
We cause ourselves problems by not knowing what our counterparts in industry are doing. In my case, I taught the textbook in my first business and technical writing courses at Indiana University East, Richmond.
Driggers, Stephen. ADE Bulletin (1986). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
#27272
Intelligent Terminology Management
Using multiple terms to refer to the same concepts can be a major cause of confusion. Ray explains how to implement a process to consolidate the terminology used by your organization.
Ray, Rebecca. Intercom (2006). Articles>Writing>Style Guides>Glossary
#27341
Remember that writers are, by training and disposition, attracted to people and places with interesting names.
Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#27345
What makes a page-turner, an irresistible read, a story or book that you can't put down? Well, lots of things. But one indispensable tool seems to be the internal cliffhanger.
Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#25946
Internet Marketing: What NOT to Do (And What Not to Fall For)
Do you sell over the Internet? If you do, and if your goal is to develop a long-lasting, trusting relationship with your customers, here are some things to avoid doing. And if you're buying over the Internet, here are some things to watch out for.
#13981
An Interpersonal Approach To Writing Negative Messages
Writing negative messages is one of the most difficult tasks facing business communicators. Because we usually find saying “no” harder than saying 'yes,” and because refusing a request often is interpreted by a reader as personal rejection, most writers know enough to approach the task of writing negative messages with some degree of caution. Recently I spent all of five minutes writing a note to a job applicant, telling her that she had been hired for an opening. I spent almost ten times as long composing the letter sent to the applicants who did not receive the job offer.
Salerno, Douglas. JAC (1986). Articles>Rhetoric>Writing
#29017
Interpreting Textual Data in Writing Research 
This article discusses a theoretical framework for situating interpretations of textual data collected during research. Based on the reader response theory of Louise Rosenblatt, this framework consists of a continuum representing the range of interpretative assumptions--stances--researchers can bring to their reading of textual data. The continuum is bounded by the two most extreme stances defined by Rosenblatt as efferent, roughly comparable to the stereotypical scientific interpretative tradition, and aesthetic, roughly comparable to the stereotypical humanities interpretative tradition.
Thompson, Isabelle. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>Research>Methods>Writing
#31250
Interviewing: We Ask Some Tough Questions and Present Some Answers
Interviewing brings up some thorny issues. In this edition of "Working Words," we want to follow up on the basics covered in our last column and give you some opinions that may be helpful. To supplement our own experience, we've brought in some heavy guns—several seasoned business writers and a newspaper reporter, all of whom handle tough subjects.
Canavor, Natalie and Claire Meirowitz. Communication World Bulletin (2007). Articles>Writing>Interviewing
#21697
An Introduction to API Documentation 
This session will help you to: identify relevant source of information; extract information from the source; create effective API documentation; create context-sensitive help for DLLs (Dynamic Link Library).
Dubey, Akash. STC India (2003). Articles>Documentation>SDK>Technical Writing
#24363
An Introduction to the Internet for Technical Writers
In spite of all the news and excitement about the Internet, there are still millions of people who are not using it, including many STC members. Email and the ability to do Internet research are now required tools for technical writers. But where do you start when you want to “surf the Net”? What hardware do you need? How do you select an access route to the cyberspace? Once you’re on-line, where do you go? Here are some of the answers. Warning: the Internet changes rapidly. Some of these answers may not be valid by the time you are ready to go on-line.
Lenzo, Thomas J. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Internet>Writing>Technical Writing
#19617
Introduction to Writing Software Documentation
Documentation is a vital but often unappreciated part of almost every software product. Most software documentation is written by technical writers, employees who specialize in the field. People not in the field often fail to appreciate just how complex the process of writing documentation really is and how dependent it is on developers and other software professionals. There's also a lot of confusion out there about just what technical writing encompasses.
Karin, Janice. Suite101. Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
#20853
Inverted Pyramids in Cyberspace
This succinct introduction is an example of the inverted pyramid style: starting with the conclusion. If I wanted to write a column about frames I would continue with one or two examples of why frames suck (can't bookmark or print a view) and conclude with a discussion of the fundamental issues (frames impair the user's navigation and break the fundamental user model of the Web as being composed of unitary pages).
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1996). Articles>Web Design>Writing
#13971
The Irony Game: Assessing a Writer's Adaptation to an Opponent
The study of composition processes describes what writers do. The study of the art of composition describes methods for giving writers better control over what they do. This essay makes a contribution to both research concerns. It contributes to the study of composition processes by describing what ironists do when they refute an opponent. It contributes to the study of the art of composition by offering methods for giving writers better control over the adaptive strategies they use when attempting refutations.
Kaufer, David S. and Christine M. Neuwirth. JAC (1981). Articles>Rhetoric>Writing
